


I Don't Know Why You Have My Heart, But I'd Like it Back Now Please

by Petersolacenovak



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bill the Babysitter, Bisexual Harry Potter, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, F/F, F/M, Harry Potter was Raised by Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, Harry and the Weasleys grew up together, Hurt Percy Weasley, LOT'S OF DEATH, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Minor Fred Weasley/Hermione Granger, Multi, One Big Happy Weasley Family, References to Depression, Remus Lupin Needs a Hug, Rewriting the series because I can, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend, Room of Requirement Shenanigans, Severus Snape Needs a Hug, Slight Ron/Harry?, Slow Burn, or he needs to get laid but whatever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-07-08 19:18:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15936650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petersolacenovak/pseuds/Petersolacenovak
Summary: It was the idea of 'Strictness' and 'responsibility' that scared Siruis-not the idea of raising Harry and showering him with love.He had loved Harry the moment he saw him and had planned on being the best Godfather he could be. Then he became his actual father-well, adoptive father technically-but he was going through the loss of his best friend-and his fiancé was acting quite odd-He couldn't do this. Not on his own.Thank god he met the Weasleys.(I'm redoing the HP series but better and gayer)(On hiatus)





	1. The start of their broken hearts

**Author's Note:**

> I think we all know most of this belongs to Jk, but I will repeat, this world was created by her-not me. 
> 
> Now please, enjoy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little introduction.

The house was dark, full to the brim with shadows and the scent of iron flowing through the air. It gave no sounds to the ears of passerbyers and led those to believe everything was over and the house was abandoned by it’s owners. Of course, that was lie, crafted to fool those known as muggles.

 

Muggles, a term to describe those with no magical abilities, were all over the streets. Most had been alerted to come outside when screams erupted from the old house. Screams so blood curdling, one would think a murder was happening. Which was indeed happening, though it was not obvious to the muggles, the house now silent and no one exiting it with yells of panic. No one running out with blood soaked hands and their fingers wrapped around a blade.

 

The muggles all stood around their driveways, mothers holding their young ones close, couples clutching each other’s hands tightly, and all watching the house in fear, trying hard not to imagine what had just occurred inside.

 

They all knew the small family who lived inside. The father was a nervous looking man with black curly hair and a jittery smile. He was often cautious when walking around outside and always acted like he was being questioned whenever a neighbor spoke to him. The mother had unruly red red, usually combed, but never pulled back. She was very calm compared to her husband and much more caring towards their neighbors-speech wise. The youngest of the family was a little boy only seen by the neighbors only once when the father had danced with the child in the yard, wrapped in bundles of blankets and held closely.

 

And that's what led the muggles to start calling the police. Several were in tears, some dragging their children back in and bolting the door. Eyes were still on the house, while a group of people began to argue on who should go knock on the door.

 

“You go!” A burly man growled at a shorter weasel-like woman, his walrus mustache quivering on his upper lip. His eyes darted over to the large brooding house, that loomed across the street. The woman gave a great show of stomping her foot childishly and crossed her arms, pink nightie flapping around her legs.

 

“I will not-” She bit out only to stop short as someone different started for the house. They all stared at the dark clothed man, his black robes fluttering around in the night wind, black greasy locks of hair covering his face. He didn't bother to look at the muggles watching him and wrenched open the door. A creak could be heard and they all jumped in surprise. With bated breaths, they watched him step in, legs shaking.

 

…

 

Snape could hear his heart thumping in his chest. He needed to know if she was safe. She was all that mattered in that moment and he needed to see her alive. He needed to see her chest rising. He needed to see her beautiful emerald eyes shining back at him, full of life and...yes, sadness, but she would still have James, wouldn't she? If that idiot had gotten him killed then...well, that would be best. He was never good enough for her anyways. She could start over. With him.

 

He shook his head. Not yet. He couldn't get his hopes up….

 

The thought of of Lily’s cold and lifeless corpse flickered through his mind and his whole body racked in shakes. Perhaps thinking of them having a future together was the best choice for now. 

 

His shaking hands latched onto the doorknob and yanked it open. A blast of warmth hit him. He distantly heard someone sobbing and he took a small step back. 

 

_ One, two, three. _

 

_ One, two, three. _

 

He sucked in the ragged breaths, trying to get himself into stepping inside. It took a moment longer than he had before he shoved himself in, the door shutting behind with a click.

 

Shadows splashed about the room, darkness engulfing an oak coffee table centered in the middle of the room. Across from the table sat a grey leather couch and a red fluffy armchair, both covered in unfolded clean laundry. He had never seen the couch before, but he knew that chair to be from Lily’s parent’s home. He had seen it on the occasion she would sneak him up to her room, trying not to wake up her sleeping parents and nosy little sister. A potted plant sat on the coffee table-although it looked to be begging for someone to water it. He was in the living room he decided.

 

There was no more time for him to observe the decor and the lights, he frowned. With a spin on his heel, he turned out of the room and started for the stairs-

 

James Potter lay on the fourth step, his body unmoving and his dead eyes staring into Severus. One hand was clutching his useless wand, his other on the step above his head. His mouth was open as if he had died halfway through a scream. If it was out of fear or agony, Severus wouldn't be surprised.

 

His legs shook as he sidestepped around James’ corpse, both eyes avoiding what lay in front of him, 

 

Taking it as slow as he could, he called out shakily, “Lily?”

 

There was no reply, only the crying, he had heard at the front door, becoming louder and louder as he climbed the death ridden steps. 

 

What if he found something he didn't like up there? What would he do? Would he comfort her? She was the one crying, right? Voldemort had to have completed his task by now. Maybe he'd interrupted too early…

 

He finally reached the top of the stairs and stopped just in front of the nursery door. The sobs were louder than ever and his heartbeat began to get so loud it matched the cries. 

 

His hands were shaking so violently he couldn't tell where they were. Both of his eyes were set on the door in front of him, mind pushing himself on. He needed to open the door and see what had happened. 

 

After what felt like decades, Severus was able to curl his left hand around the doorknob and push it open with a creak. 

 

His heart lept into his throat as he peered in and saw Lily Potter.

 

Dead. 

 

On the moss green colored shag carpet. Her hand was outstretched and she lay on her side, two glassy and lifeless eyes staring off into a corner. Her hair covered her mouth, the orange locks winding down her shoulders and over her grey sweater.

 

His throat was tight, eyes burning, as he stared at her. He fell to his knees, pain flowing through his entire being. It felt like his soul had been split in half. A downward spiral was all he was now and it began to lash out. 

 

A guttural scream of agony flew from his lips and he crawled over to the body, fingernails clawing into the carpet and hot tears rolling down his pale and bony face.

 

“Oh-gah-Li-oh god-oh god.” He moaned, pulling Lily into his lap and sobbing hard into her hair. He had never felt so horrible to touch her. Not even when she grabbed his wrist after their fight. Not even when she slapped him for calling her that name. Not even when she had tripped on him after walking down the hall, hand in hand with the boy who was now a corpse, like her, at the bottom of the stairs.

 

He let out another bellow of anguish, his heart feeling like it was being split down the middle. Cracks were erupting from the line, seeping into his flesh and burning his insides like a toxic blood. 

 

Like the devilish ink in his arm was traveling down through his body, seeking revenge for what he had done so horribly to the world and all the innocent muggles and muggleborns.

 

Through his howles he realized he wasn't alone in suffering. Tears were clouding his vision, and the pounding in his heart was blocking most of his hearing, but through the haze he could see a crib in the center of the room. He gently lowered...her...down and pushed himself up to his feet. He took two wobbly steps forward before he reached out and caught himself on the cradle's rim, nearly about to fall.

 

He sucked in a breath and looked into the baby bed. 

 

A green eyed, messy haired, sobbing baby looked back up at him, a nose running and eyes red and puffy

 

He leaned forward and plucked the child from his bed (Despite his disgust over how snotty the boy was). He lifted the child close to his face, knowing they both had tears running down their face and probably resembled each other.

 

“How-”

 

“Snivellus?” A voice coated in rage whispered from the doorway.

 

Severus whipped his head around so fast he got a crick in his neck. While clutching his head, he looked to the dark figure who was standing in the doorway, a wand up and pointed right at Snape.

 

“Take your greasy paws off my godson, you rat.” Sirius black growled, eyes red and twitching. His hands shook like mad, but he kept his wand up, determined to murder the man who had just killed his family. However, he lowered the long price of wood when he noticed the tears dripping down Severus’ face.

 

With both of his arms trembling, Severus lowered the child back into the crib, looking away from where Sirius was watching intently.

 

“He...he killed them?” Sirius croaked out, abandoning his position from in the doorway and walking in. When he neared the crib he looked into the right corner of the room and made a retching sound. He doubled over, both hands on his knees, vomiting all over the floor.

 

Severus couldn't help the scowl that  came over his face. Why couldn't Black keep down his dinner? Severus had the urge to spew his stomach on the Potter’s floor when he had arrived and saw James’ body.

 

But he didn't.

 

“Yes.” Said Snape, voice thin and wavering. It was like a brittle string, between two fingers, being pulled tightly. At any moment it could snap, leaving Severus unconnected and lost. Well, even more than how he already was.

 

Sirius looked back up at Snape in horror, one hand wiping old carrots and crisps from his chin, “How-how did he find out? I don't understand, Peter was-”

 

Both men looked at each other, knowing exactly who had tipped off the dark lord-but only one being surprised by Sirius’ revelation.

 

“He couldn't have...no...not Pete…” Severus could hear Black mutter behind his own rapid and furious heartbeat. It was like two bass drums being beaten with a mallet, only inches from his ears. Over and over again as tears began to dry on his pale cheeks.

 

“He didn't have to tell him..” He mumbled, lips forming words he didn't have control over, “He was their secret keeper and he...he told the dark lord where they-” he broke off with a sob, elbow coming up and covering his mouth.

 

He couldn't look the other man in the eye as he cried, instead, gazing down at young Harry, who’s green eyes reminded Snape of Lily much more than he wanted them to. Apparently the boy was done with his crying (Unlike the crooked nosed man above him) and seems content with watching them both silently. He flinched and looked away.

 

His eyes landed on Lily’s body, the vomit on the floor, the finger paintings on the wall behind Harry, before finally on Sirius-who was surprisingly, sobbing just as hard as Severus.

 

They only had to make eye contact and they stopped, humiliated at showing such weakness to one another.

 

“...What do we do?” Sirius asked after a moment of silence.

 

Severus remained quiet, thoughts zooming through his mind. What  _ did  _ they do now? Did they leave and get help? Did they go and obliviate the muggles’ minds? Did they stay here and wait? What would they do with the bodies? Should they floo to Hogwarts and find Dumbledore? Where was Remus Lupin? Where was Peter Pettigrew and how fast could he kill him? 

 

_ No. _

 

How  _ slowly  _ could he kill him?

 

“We need to get Dumbledore. We need to-”

 

“Are you sure she's dead?” Sirius cut in, voice much more clogged than usual.

 

Snape looked at him, lip curled and eyes narrowed, “I. am. sure.” He mentally scowled when he felt a pang of guilt at Sirius’ broken-hearted expression. 

 

“What about Potter? Dead, is he?” Snape asked, voice hinted with a sneer.

 

“How dare you-” 

 

“Oh no.” A booming and loud sort of voice bellowed, interrupting the two men. They turned back to the doorway to see a man who could not fit inside. His hair was black and shaggy, it disappearing into his large beard. He was extremely tall, and had clammy looking skin, his nose bigger that most. He was as wide as he was tall, but some body weight was muscle. Calluses on his hands went from his fingers to his palms, as well as his elbows. Severus immediately recognized the large giant-like man, as Rubeus Hagrid.

 

“What are you doing here?” Snape bit out, heart in pieces, but mind not yet. He couldn't deal with the lumbering oaf, Sirius Black, and the dead body of the girl had been in love with since he was eight, on the floor, three feet away from him-all at the same time. He was going to have an aneurysm. 

 

Hagrid seemed to shake himself out of a daze, practically having to turn his body 90%, to not look at Lily, “I-I’ve come teh take ‘arry to Dumbledore. Urgent, he says. I didn't think I'd see..well, you know.” He glanced at...her...and shifted once again.

 

“Have you-”

 

“Minerva’s obliviating all em muggles out there. Tryin’ to make em think the Potters died o’ a gas leak in their own home.” Hagrid went on, somehow knowing what Snape was going to say.

 

Sirius frowned next and asked, “Why does he want Harry? What's-what’s he planning to do with him?” His eyes became pleading for an answer-but it was not given, Hagrid only shrugging in reply and saying, “I don't know. But, I can take yeh up to Hogwarts, myself. Flooed ‘ere, yeh see.” 

 

Snape looked away from Hagrid and down to little Harry Potter, all wrapped up in a blanket, eyes glittering back up at him in wonder. ‘How can he be the son of James Potter? He's so..tiny. So...innocent looking. That must be the Lily side of him’, Severus thought to himself.

 

“Let's-let’s go then. I don't think I can-can-can stay here any longer.”’ Black said, alerting Snape that the conversation was still going on. 

 

Sirius was right though. One more minute in hear with Lily, the scent of drying vomit, a gurgling baby, Sirius Black, and he was going to keel over and die. He could be with Lily though…

 

“Let's go. Now.” He commanded, already stomping out of the room and shoving past Hagrid to get downstairs. He didn't pass James on the stairs however, and for a moment worried he had a zombie on his hands. Luckily (Er-unluckily?), when he got to the bottom, he found James leaning against the railing, a blanket over his face and a puddle of more vomit next to him, it seemed that Sirius had moved the body, by the shade of the clumpy, liquid-like substance.

 

“I did it there too.” Sirius said as he and Hagrid came towards him, the stairs creaking under the strain of their conjoined weight (One, a stray dog and the other a gigantic man who Snape often thought to be part giant). Hagrid seemed to not be as pale as he was when he arrived, but he was still shifting around uncomfortably. 

 

Black seems calmer though. He had Harry in his arms, walking softer and calmer than usual.

 

“And I rode my bike here. Can you take it-actually, would you just have it? In exchange for the floo powder?” Sirius asked Hagrid, to which the man nodded reluctantly (Probably worrying that Sirius was just going through too much of think of what he was saying).

 

“Snivellus,” Black turned to him, Harry beginning to nod off in his arms, “Er-are you coming with? I don't want to show up with Harry, like I-like I took him without anyone knowing.” 

 

“Yes. I’ll acompany you there.” Severus answered, ducking his eyes from Black’s.

 

The man scrunched up his nose and turned back to the fire place, reaching into a small sack Hagrid was holding and stopped, asking, 

 

“Can Harry travel with me over Floo powder?” 

 

The other two froze. 

 

“No. No, it won't work.” Snape answered with both eyes shutting in irritance. How was this going to work now? Could they leave the child?

 

“I'll take him.” Hagrid said suddenly, stomping forward, both hands open to hold the little bundle of snot and fluff. 

 

Black took a step back, clutching Harry closer to himself. Is Snape wasn't concentrating so hard on not passing out/vomiting/bursting into tears he would have grinned evilly at Sirius’ act of such protectivity.

 

“I promise to look after him.” Hagrid frowned, failing to hide a flash of hurt that crossed his face.

 

Sirius nodded, “Shouldn't-shouldnt I take him? I know how to drive the bike better and I know Harry more, I-”

 

“Sirius.” Hagrid cut him off, “You were here before me. You can tell Dumbledore what happened more clearly-”

 

“Snape was here first! He can say what happened!” Black cut him off, voice rattling around the broken down house. His jaw twitched viciously and he let out a growl, which startled both of the men near him. Black didn't seem to care about them, only stopping his scowl heard Harry begin to make some unhappy gurgles.

 

“Please, Sirius. We need to leave before the ministry gets here and tries to take ‘arry.” Hagrid pleaded.

 

Snape watched intently as Black hesitated before gently moving Harry into the large man’s arms. He let out a breath of air as he watched Hagrid fumble around, finally holding Harry’s head correctly and not letting the small boy breath in any of his unkempt and dirty hair.

 

“Well, I'll see you both in a bit.” Hagrid said giving the worst supportive grin anyone could ever muster. He instead sported what seemed to be a grimace, his beard going down and tickling the top of Harry’s head.

 

Black and Severus nodded back, one staring longingly after the child, and the other, wishing that he could wake up from this nightmare, in his slightly uncomfortable bed, in his too small dorm, at the too full of children Hogwarts.

 

A moment after Hagrid had walked out of the house they heard the roar of a motorbike and then the sound both Harry and Hagrid yelping and flying off into the night. 

 

They both turned to the fireplace.

 

“You go first. You're still holding some.” Severus commanded, pointing out the most logical approach to this circumstance. 

 

Sirius seemed to not even go the other route-apparently too tired to argue-and for once, Severus was glad to just remain quiet and not have to deal with Black’s irritating voice. The man stepped into the fireplace, raised his left hand, and then threw the powder down, shouting, “Hogwarts, Head Office!”

 

He vanished in a ploom of green dust, leaving Snape, once again, alone in the house of the Potter’s deaths. Lily was still upstairs. James was still leaning against the railing. Black’s vomit was seeping into the floor. 

 

He could probably head back upstairs and….

 

And what? Hold a corpse?

 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut in concentration. He needed to go to talk to Dumbledore-but that could wait a moment more. Right? Surely, Black and Albus could-

 

His mind stopped as he heard the front  door slam open, “Severus? Is that you?” Minerva could be heard shouting and the pitter patter of her small steps. 

 

He practically sprinted to the fireplace, not wanting to talk with her, grabbed some floo powder and yelled, “Hogwarts! Head office!” 

 

And then he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, do you guys read fics on your phones or like computers or what? I read it on my phone and I was just curious.


	2. Ice Cream Trucks in Lakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;) ;) ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter with Harry before Howarts y'all.

Sirius didn't know what he was doing.

He was in charge of another human’s life now. Of course, he had always been responsible for James (The charismatic fool he could be) on the regular and had watched Harry every once in awhile-he was now fully to blame for how Harry could turn out in the future.

After he had taken the young boy home to his dark and tiny flat, he had laid in bed, Harry sleeping in a magic made made crib beside him, peacefully.

Thousands of thoughts had gone through his mind. Most were about his family being wiped away

He still had Remus though. His wonderful, wonderful werewolf, who he loved so much.…

Sirius had thought he would have to sit through the trial, all by himself, waiting for the minister to decide whether or not he could keep this tiny bundle of joy-but then Remus had showed up and took him to lunch, calming all his nerves. He had to leave before the trial (Werewolves weren't the most popular at the ministry) but Sirius felt so much more loved.

In the end he had won, ignored Dumbledore and Snape, taken his boy home, and collapsed into bed.

He tried not to think of how he was going to raise this tiny boy. He had tried not to think of all the werewolf discrimination acts. He had tried not to think of James and Lily’s cold and soulless bodies, rotting away in the ground.

He failed at all three, even adding in a panic attack over where he and Harry could live.

He wasn't sure the black mansion was suitable for a baby (Or a human in general) and he was not about to go back to that stink hole, with his mother still living there.

But, although he had spent several nights at Remus’s home in the past, he wasn't sure if he could take little Harry there..

Would the ministry find out and take Harry away? Sirius couldn't really tell. 

He gazed up at the shadowed ceiling above him, strands of hair (so greasy, it could rival Snivellus’) falling into his eyes. He hadn't had the time to shower since he got home-his bed had looked so welcoming and comfy…

His head rolled to the right and he gazed over at a sleeping Harry. His little fists were clenched around sky blue blue blankie, mouth leaking drool down the fuzzy thing. His hair was crazy, sticking out in different directions, one small curl, covering his left eye.

Sirius couldn't help the tired, yet content, grin that spread over his features, “Goodnight, Harry. Tomorrow is the first day of our new life together.” He muttered and sunk lower into the blankets piled around him,

\----  
~2 years later~  
What was an ice cream truck doing in the middle of a pond? Good question.

Sirius had been looking for jobs all over England. When he began to realize all the good wizarding jobs had been pretty much fulfilled by others-he went to a small Muggle library, where fliers of odd jobs were pinned on a cork board in the main hall.

So far, he had washed pups (Not so easy, despite himself being quite doggish), babysat an eighty year old woman (Who had complained too loudly about her neighbors Mrs. and Mrs. Wenzington, causing Sirius to give her a bat bogey hex).

Next He had worked in a McDonald's for two days (Before he ‘accidentally’ told a whiny twelve year old to ‘hold the fuck on’ while he made him a vanilla milkshake).

After a bit he got a job at a pub (Spilled and sampled too many drinks), then he tried to work in a Gap (Apparently you couldn't tell a customer ‘that tops only going to look good on the manican, Sweetheart. This place is just trying to get you to waist fifty bucks’), finally he had started running an ice cream truck. That only last two weeks, and now he was back out of a job.

With a sigh, he gave up on trying to save the sinking truck, shoved his name tag in his pocket, and disapparated away. He was met with the sight of Harry and Lupin, both on the couch, one reading aloud from a book, the other, drooling and dozing.

Remus looked up as Sirius appeared, a grin on his face, “You're home early, love. Get fired again?” He stopped and frowned at Sirius, “Why are your clothes so wet?”

“I accidentally drove into a lake.” Sirius replied, like this was normal thing for him to do on a Wednesday.

Sadly it was.

“You've got to stop doing that, dear.” The other man chuckled, setting the book aside and drawing Harry closer into his lap. Harry was three years old now and quite small for his age. His hair was still crazy, but the dark ebony color was quite handsome on his baby face. His bright green eyes were still as luminescent as the day he was born, the same as his mother’s.

Lupin, on the other hand, was looking older. He wasn't even thirty, yet he had several stress lines. His hair wasn't necessarily greying-but it looked a bit brittle, the same with his eyebrows. A scar across his nose was quite noticeable, but mostly old. A grey sweater clung to his shoulders, while his pants were a slightly ratted pair of brown slacks.

He was much too young to look as tired as he did-but the large smile on his face mostly made up for that. He seemed to always be smiling when Sirius, Harry, and he were in the same room together.

They were like a happy family.

“I think you need to move back into your old place, love.” Remus suddenly said, his eyes staring right into Sirius’. He gave his partner a look, as if to say ‘don't even try arguing with me, Padfoot’.

Sirius, however, couldn't help himself to do exactly that, “Are you mad?” He all but chuckled, “My mother lives there! Walburga Black, a known werewolf hater, is occupying that house, and you want to just head in there and ask if I can have my old room back?!?”

Lupin opened his mouth to argue when Harry whined in his sleep. The werewolf sent Black a scowl, lifting a finger to his mother and indicating for the other to shut up.

“That's not what I meant,” Remus responded quietly, “I meant that old apartment you and James rented out,  
That first year after school. It was much space then this place, and it's got two bedrooms.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

“One for us and one for Harry.” He clarified, voice much softer and face much more maroon.

“Oh.” Sirius blinked. His face broke out into a large cocky grin, teeth shining in the dim room, “Oh, really?” He asked, tongue darting out and licking his own chapped lips.

Remus shifted a bit in his seat, repositioning Harry in his arms, and ducking his eyes back down to the floor. “Well, yes. W-we need to have a home safe enough for Harry, and that doesn't cost both our right legs. Neither of us are working and I'm pretty sure it's impossible for me to-”

“Moony.” Sirius cut him off, resting a hand on the other’s shoulder in a comforting manner, “You're right. We need to find a better place for Harry to grow up in. This place…” Sirius trailed off, his hand gesturing around the tiny apartment they stood in.

He shook his head, “Well, it’s bloody awful. And, I know when my mother dies I can get my-”

“Sirius!” Remus yelped, thumping Black on the shoulder.

“I'm joking! I'm joking! Relax!” Sirius chortled, pressing a kiss onto the werewolf’s nose.

Remus made several more mutterings under his breath and turned back to the couch (Most likely to hide his blush), placing Harry down.

“We need to find a job, Sirius. We need to look for someone in the wizarding world, once again.” He said, looking over his shoulder, squatting in front of Harry, as he began to wake up and pull at Remus’ hair.

“I'll head down to Diagonal Alley, Love. Tomorrow with Harry, while he looks for a birthday present.” Sirius smiled. He looked down at his two boys, heart filling with a rush of warmth. Mind capturing the sweet moment forever.

\----  
~One day later~  
“Harry, you can't get a nimbus 2000, pup. You're not old enough.” Sirius sighed, heart feelings like it was being squeezed as he looked into the small child’s tear filled eyes.

Harry pointed to the broomstick again, his lips forming a pout and eyes becoming pleading, “Pwease? I can cwean my room!” He begged.

People passing by, made soft ‘awws’ at the adorable child (causing Sirius to become even more stressed out in the shop) and Harry gave an even even better ‘puppy dog eyed’ stare.

“Do you know what your daddy would say if I bought this, pup? He'd tell me I'm irresponsible and would return the broomstick the moment you took it out of the wrapping paper.” Sirius frowned, crouching down and getting eye level with Harry.

“Don't show daddy then!” The little boy insisted, black curls falling around his eyes. He shoved them out of the way, setting his green eyes on his dad.

Sirius felt the pang of guilt in his chest as he looked over at the broom and then back to his little boy.

They didn't have enough money for the thing, nor was it safe for Harry to ride yet. He sighed, they would have to wait until Harry got older then. Maybe when he went to school, they would pick one out for him,

“I can't keep secrets from daddy, Pup. You know that,” Sirius sighed, “But what about we go looking for some nice dress robe's for yeh? Madam Malkins is open, love.”’ He stood up straight and looked down at Harry’s crestfallen face, a very forced smile coming onto his lips. He took a sniffling Harry by the hand and led him away from the broom and down the street of the magical; Diagon Alley.

Several times as they walked to the robe shop, Sirius glanced down at the little boy. He looked so sad! When it was two days before his birthday! How could Sirius let his own child feel so down like this?

“Hey,” He called softly to Harry, and the child looked up, “I see an ice cream trolley over there. Should we stop and grab some?”

Harry's mood became instantly better as he hopped over to the ice cream stand. Sirius felt his hand began to ache in the strong hold, but Harry did not go, until they stood right in front of the man selling the cold summer treats.

The stand was a classic white, tiny pink ice cream cones painted all over it. The two front wheels were large, the back two tiny. The man was large and burly, reddish brown hair sticking out from under an old wizarding cap. His mustache seemed a bit messy, however, his eyes held joy and life.

“Hello there, young one!” He grinned down at Harry, “What would you like on this warm and wonderful day?”

Harry, being quite shy in front of strangers, turned to Sirius and tugged on his sleeve. After Sirius leaned down and the boy whispered in his ear, the answer was given.

“Can we get two lemon ice lollies?” Sirius asked politely, holding out three knuts.

The man accepted the money and pulled out the frozen treats, “Here you go, lads. Enjoy!” He grinned, just as a woman behind Sirius began to yell out, “George! You stop messing with your brother, this instant! If he trips and ruins his new robes, I'll-”

Sirius turned as she shouted out her last word. They both stopped, mouths open and eyes widening.

The woman had bushy red hair, pulled out of her fair with a rainbow scrunchie. She had wide hips and rosy cheeks, a few laugh lines sitting upon her face. Her dress was a light blue with tiny orange flowers drawn across it. A green handbag hung over her left shoulder, while she had a small boy holding her hand tightly.

The boy had the same bushy quality of hair-although his was a darker almost wine colored hair. He wore horn rimmed glasses and a clean pair of black slacks with a button down. He looked much too serious for his age.

On the other side of him stood two taller boys. They seemed to be identical, both with hair the same color as the woman’s, but hair not bushy-but wavy and thick. Their lips were carved into mischievous grins-and they seemed to be snickering over the boy with the horn rimmed glasses.

Sirius assumed these children were the sons of the woman, and grinned as he realized who these people were.

“Molly?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“Sirius?” The woman replied, unable to shake off the shock that stapled itself onto her face.

They stared at each other for a moment over until the boy holding her hand whimpered out, “Mummy? Are you okay?”

Molly's eyes darted down to her son’s as she began to grin brightly, “I am!”  
She smiled at her kids and then looked Sirius, “It's been so long! I haven't-It’s been ages! How are you? What've you been doing?”

Sirius grinned wider, “I've been raising little Harry, here.” He set a hand on the top of his child’s head, ruffling the already messy locks of lumpy black curls.

The woman nearly shrieked and placed a hand over her mouth as she noticed the young boy, beside Sirius.

“He looks just like-”

“James. I know, isn't it like looking him in the face? It's like he's just...there.” He frowned for a moment, “But more adorable and a toddler.”

Molly let out a chirp of laughter, “Yes, yes, you're right! He looks just like him,” Shd added on, “But he also, looks so much like you! He's got all your little mannerisms down.”

“No he doesn't-” Sirius stopped as he stopped himself from wiping his forehead. Harry was in the middle of doing the same exact thing.

“Huh.” Sirius grunted in surprise.

“Would you like to catch up?” Molly asked abruptly, causing everyone to jump (Even herself, like she hadn't even known what she would say). “We can get our ice creams and sit at that patio table over there.” She pointed to a small table, a few feet away from them all.

“I would love to.” Sirius found himself saying and grabbed Harry’s hand in his, “I’ll let you all get your order then.” He moved out of the way for them to pass, his brow beginning to sweat.

He hadn't expected to see anyone he knew…

How long had it been since he'd seen Molly? More than a decade at least. She had been to one of the meetings he remembered. But her and Arthur didn't wanted their children to be at risk-which Sirius understood. No one wanted their children to be raised in the midst of war.

He looked down at Harry and smiled sadly, sitting them both down on the wooden seat, Harry in his lap.

Harry, his son, had been not only born and raised, but forced to be reminded of the war every time he would look at his scar. ‘He's gonna hate going to school’ Sirius thought.

“Give your brother back his glasses this instant, Fred!”

“I'm George!”

Sirius smothered a sort with his had as three red headed boys with ice cream cones sat down on the chairs next to him, their mother following later, a moment after she sputtered out apologies to her sons.

“So,” Sirius hummed, “I've gathered that these two are twins.” He pointed at the two identical boys with mischievous grins, “Fred and George was it?”

They both nodded, licking their ice cream. Both, it seemed, had gotten chocolate with cherry in a cone. It was already melting, leaking down onto their tiny hands.

Sirius turned to the tiny boy with glasses, “And you? What's your name?” He asked, taking a second to lick his ice lolly.

The boy shrank back in his chair and scoffed towards his mother. He was practically in her lap when Molly chuckled out, “This is Percy. He's a bit shy-but I'm sure it's just a phase he’ll outgrow.”

“And is he the youngest then?” Sirius asked, noticing how much smaller Percy was, compared to the twins-who were at least three or four inches taller than him.

Fred and George bust into loud laughter, startling everyone so much Harry almost dropped his ice cream on Sirius’ lap.

“Percy's seven!” One of them cackled while the other continued to snort into their dessert.

“We’re five!” They both finally shouted. With a glance over at the older boy, Sirius could see Percy’s face turn a new and darker shade of red. His mother seemed to notice as well and scolded her kids, “Both of you need to knock that off this instant! Do you want to play quidditch with Bill and Charlie this evening or not?”

They both clamped their mouths shut in an instant.

“Sorry.” One said.

“Hmph.” The other sniffed and shoved his entire ice cream scoop into his mouth. Molly’s lips twitched as she reached over and wiped the drips from his chin-but hid the smile with a disapproving frown.

“Where's William and Charles?” Sirius said after a moment of awkward silence (Minus Harry’s quite giggles and Percy’s audible rage at his younger brothers).

“William? Oh! We call him Bill actually, and Charles goes by Charlie. He's with his mates at Eeylops Owl Emporium, while Bill’s watching Ron and Ginny. He's already got everything ready for his third year, but Charlie's still looking for some fitting robes.”

“And he's at an owl shop when he needs robes?” Sirius frowned, pulling Harry closer in his lap, as the boy began to slip down a bit.

Molly snorted, “He's not buying an owl, his mate is. I'm sure they’ll head over to get robes as soon as they're done. Charlie’s promised me.”’

The man nodded, not believing that this would actually happen-but who was Sirius Black to give this kind woman doubt over her second oldest son?

A thought popped into his head then, and he frowned, “But, where’s Arthur? Is he helping Bill at home?”

Molly gave a bright smile, “No actually! He's at work, he is. We’re pretty sure he's up for a promotion!”

“Oh really?” Sirius grinned back, happy for this sweet family.

“He’s going to get it.” A voice cut in and they all froze. They looked down to the boy with horn rimmed glasses. Percy had scooted back into his own seat, hunched a bit, carefully studying his popsicle. He looked back up st Sirius and have a shy smile, “My dad’s the best at the ministry.”

Sirius let a chuckle escape him and he grinned back, “I bet he is, kiddo.” He looked to Molly, “Er, not to be rude, but I've actually been looking for a job recently, you see, and, well, I've been thinking of moving into an apartment for us, but I need to find a-”

“There's an empty post in The department of magical law enforcement I'm sure you could fill!” Molly interrupted, “Arthur could probably work something out if you're qualified enough.”

A flash of Barty Crouch came into his mind and Sirius fought away a scowl. What else could he do though? He couldn't get anything from his vault until his mother died and the potter’s vault? Well, that was for Harry’s future. He couldn't take his child’s money-not when he could earn his own.

“That would be wonderful, Molly!” He finally thanked her.

His hands and feet felt numb as he spoke.

\----

~2 years later~

“What are we going to do? The full moon is on the exact night I'm getting pulled into work for a special assignment! If I don't show up, I'll be fired and we’ll be living on the streets-”

“Slow down.” Remus sighed, growing annoyed at Sirius’ rambling and constant pacing around Harry’s bedroom. It was painted a soft green (Much to Sirius’ disdain), matching his eyes. The walls were covered with several moving quidditch posters, as well as several photos of himself and his dads, and one of his birth parents.

Remus held Harry on his side, slightly winded as Harry was starting to get bit heavy. Five years old already. He was getting taller-but still was a bit too small for his age.

“Let's just think. Do we know anyone that could watch him?” He asked, hand patting down tufts of Harry’s wild hair.

Sirius flopped down on Harry’s bed with a groan, hurrying his head in his hands, trying to think.

Did they even know anyone? They had never really let anyone see Harry for long-never given out his name to people, as Dumbledore had warned them that Harry could not be indulged in too much fame so young.

But who did know them? There was Albus of course, but he certainly did not have the time to watch their five year old. There was Tom the Barman, but no way would Remus allow that.

And then there was Hagrid…’Hell naw’ Sirius thought to himself. That man was not fit to raise a child. As much as Harry and his dads loved him-he was not good at watchkngHarry for that long.

“What about the Weasleys?” Remus asked and Sirius looked at him with a loopy sorta grin, “Yes! Molly would love to have Harry over! She loves our little boy!” He jumped off the bed, mood switching in an instant and he padded his way over to Remus.

“Let's apparate over now! C’mon! We’ll-”

Remus cut him off quickly, “It’s eight o’clock, Padfoot. They'll be having dinner by now-”

“They won't mind!”

“They have seven kids-yes they will!” Remus snapped and set Harry down in his bed, “Good night, pup.” He kissed the young one on the top of the head and smiled when Harry said back, “Good night, daddy.”

Remus shoved Sirius out of the room with him and quietly shut the door to Harry’s bedroom. He turned to Sirius, “We can ask them tomorrow, love. Right now, let's just get some sleep. My muscles are starting to get sore, being so close to the full moon.”

Sirius begrudgingly followed his fiancé, grumbling about ‘full moons’ and ‘seven kids’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I messed up any time frames with Sirius and Remus, but yeah.


	3. The wheel is breaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story includes a lot of Percy Weasley, as well as the struggles of Harry and his fathers. Please enjoy,

He lay in his bed, covered in warm blankets and fluffy pillows, all of which framed his body, giving him a sort of cocoon look. Next to his bed, sat his glasses, and, since he could feel several lumps at the end of his bed-he did not need the wire rimmed things to know, birthday presents lay down there. 

 

Although he had been excited for his birthday, earlier in the week, he didn't feel very compelled to open the gifts now.

 

Tired he was, sure, but usually he pushed through his sleepiness to get to his presents. He was a very energetic child-who usually got up before his dad (The man did stay up late however).

 

Speaking of said man, Harry could hear soft steps on the stairs outside his room. His father was probably planning on waking him up in bed with cake for breakfast (Like every year) and then sit down with him, demanding he open all his presents at once.

 

Harry sighed, rolled onto his left side, and closed his eyes with a muffled yawn. 

 

He would let his father have the pleasure of waking his boy up on his eleventh birthday. It was a tradition for him and-well, it was a tradition for Sirius to wake Harry up on his birthday, hand him a cupcake and watch as he opened his presents. Later, the Weasleys would arrive and they would all have a small party (Most likely including the twins doing something to wind them both up in trouble). Something would be missing this year though, just as it did the previous year, and the year before that.

 

“Good morning, my little pup.” Sirius’ sleepy voice fluttered through the room and Harry’s eyes slowly opened, a fake groan of exhaustion coming from his throat as he said back, “Morning, dad.”  

 

He sat up in his bed, scooting up and seeing that there was indeed, a pile of presents at the edge of his bed ready for to him open, just like he had hypothesized. He looked over to his dad next to see a smile break out over Sirius’ features.

 

“You gonna open them up now? Or do you wanna wait until the party-oh! And guess what!” Sirius yelped, hopping into the bed like a child (To which Harry grumbled, as he had landed on his foot).

 

“What?” Harry asked after a moment, grinning.

 

A sly look crossed the older man’s face and he shook his head slightly, his long hair falling over his shoulder, “Dumbledore’s coming, as well as Hagrid and Minerva.” 

 

“Really?” Harry couldn't help the excitement that went through his voice or the fact that his hands shot up, clasping inside his lap. 

 

“Yeah! Isn't it great? Everyone’ll be here for your party, pup.” Sirius’ voice got tighter as he spoke, a slight twitch just visible in his eyes-but it was quickly gone, leaving Harry to imagine it.

 

“Open up your presents now, Harry,” His eyes flickered go to the presents before back to Harry’s eyes, “Or if you want to wait till the party, we'll open them then-but you have to open this one first. I don't really want the others to see this.” He picked up a medium sized package, neatly wrapped and tied with string. 

 

Harry’s eyebrows raised at his father but did not question him, only taking the package in his hands and delicately opening the present. 

 

The paper fell to the blankets after a moment and Harry pulled a shimmering fabric out. He stroked a finger down the cloth before pulling it around his hands. When he looked down to see how it looked, he almost screamed, looking to Sirius in horror, as his hands had disappeared. 

 

“It's an invisibility cloak, pup. You don't have to worry, your hands are still here.” The man chuckled and pulled back to fabric to reveal Harry’s slightly shaky hands.

 

Harry flexed his fingers with an amazed stare and then let a grin spread over, “Brilliant!” His Britishness took over, “Where'd you get it?”

 

“Dumbledore-well, it was your dad’s, but Dumbledore borrowed it for awhile before he returned it to...you, I guess.” Sirius said back, his hands running over the cloak as he went on.

 

“Daddy had it?” Harry frowned and then stared at the shimmering piece of cloth in Sirius’ hands, not knowing how to feel.

 

“No!” His dad yelled and Harry flinched back in surprise-Sirius not noticing at all and going on, “It was James’ cloak, pup. He was the one who led us in all of our adventures! Not Daddy, Harry. He was...he's...er…” Sirius shifted in awkwardness for a moment and cleared his throat, 

 

“So are you gonna blow the candle out on your cupcake? We don't wanna burn the house down.” Sirius joked and pointed to a chocolate cupcake on Harry’s desk-which Harry hadn't even noticed Sirius smuggle in.

 

And, in order to save his dad from having to sit in stubborn silence, with the reminder or Remus Lupin, he picked up his breakfast/dessert and blew out the flame.

 

“And you're 11! Yay! You get to go to Hogwarts and get a wand and...uh…be a crazy tween! Doesn't that sound exciting?” Sirius exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Harry (Who had to raise his cupcake up in order to avoid it smashing into both their chests).

 

“Dad-”

 

“And it's time to put up some birthday decorations before everyone gets here. Let's go!” Sirius interrupted, springing up from his spot on the bed and bounding towards the door like a dog, “We’re also gonna need to hide all the muggle junk food,” he muttered as Harry clampored after him, “Arthur can get a bit odd when messing around with muggle items. Do you remember when we invited Ron over…”

 

But Harry wasn't listening anymore, body on autopilot as they both trodded down the stairs. 

 

‘Why would Dumbledore have the invisibility cloak?’ He asked himself, ‘And why can I never mention daddy now? I could last year...But why would my dad even use this old thing? Why would someone need an invisibility cloak in the first place? Yeah, it's incredibly awesome…’

 

He glanced back up the stairs, thinking of the shiny fabric,

 

‘Really awesome’.

 

“Earth to Harry!” Sirius chuckled and Harry stopped to realize they were standing in the living room, Sirius having just asked him a question.

 

“What?” He blinked.

 

“Do you wanna put up some streamers or something?” Sirius asked, his lips quirking and eyes shining-like he held back some humor to not offend his daydreaming son.

 

“Uh….uh….yes?”

 

Sirius bit his lower lip and raised an eyebrow at his son, “We have an hour before they get here and you wanna spend the whole time giving me vague answers?”

 

“...No?”

 

\-------

 

Ron lifted his hand onto Harry’s shoulder and gave him a goofy smile, “Do you like it? I saved up all my allowance for three weeks to get it for you.” He said and pointed down to the beautiful little jar of sparks and twinkles.

 

“I love it, Ron!” Harry grinned and threw his arms around the other boy, only to have the other help and topple over onto the carpet, bringing Harry with him.

 

Both boys faces were burning when they heard the others in the room chuckle, sitting back up swiftly, although both with small and discreet smiles.

 

“Alright, Harry, open up the ones Charlie and Bill sent you!” The twins ordered, apparently very interested in what was in the two odd looking packages. 

 

The first was lumpy and wrapped in brown cloth-not the prettiest looking thing-while it gave off a sort of dusty scent.

 

The next one had red and gold wrappings with a neat bow on top, it was square shaped and actually-a but heavy compared to the other presents Harry had already gotten.

 

“Oh! Charlie sent me a letter about what he got you! You'll definitely love it, Harry!” Percy squaked from next to Sirius, his voice a bit higher than usual with excitement.

 

A scoff came from the other side of the room and Harry looked to the twins (Just like everyone else), “Well, it's a book then, isn't it? That's all Percy would say is ‘exciting’, eh?” George looked to Fred and he nodded back, “That or Charlie’s old Prefect badge-perhaps a neatly ironed sock?” He snorted.

 

The room dived into a round of  hundred laughter, Harry snorting so hard his nostrils felt inflamed. Ron was back on the floor when Harry glanced at him and Sirius had a large grin spread over his features.

 

“I'll just go get a glass of water.” Percy said suddenly (Harry could see tints of red on his pale face) he then rose from his chair and slipped into the kitchen, making Fred and George giggle louder.

 

“Boys! Behave yourself! I swear to Merlin if you make one more comment about your brother like that, I'll take away your brooms!” Molly shouted over their ruckus, standing in front of them with his hands on her hips, and her face in a very, ‘don't make me say that again, you heathens’.

 

They silenced quickly and Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry, who had been watching with his mouth open, “Go on, dear,” She waved, “Open up your presents, now.” 

 

But Harry couldn't. He stared at the door for a moment longer, frowning as a memory invaded his mind.

  
  
  


~ Memory ~

 

_ “Are you sure you want to do that?” A humored Bill Weasley snickered from a wicker chair at the end of the table, across from the twins-who up until Bill spoke, had been scheming up a new prank to pull on the third oldest brother. _

 

_ Now, however, they were being stared at by the entire table, eyes judging them and their mother giving them a cold stare. Their father seemed to narrow his eyes and then pursed his lips, mind most likely going over the several possibilities of what they could be planning.  _

 

_ Harry was simply interested compared to the others, his hand resting on his palm and his elbow on the Weasley’s dinner table. It was like this every night they spent it with the the Weasleys, the twins either doing something horrible, Ron pouting over not being able to seconds till everyone else had finished, or Sirius telling Charlie and Bill a joke that was not meant for the other kids to hear. Frankly, Harry loved it. _

 

_ Percy, however, being the most often targeted with their pranks, looked at his younger siblings with a hint of fear, a sneer most prominent on his face (Probably to hide a trembling lip that would give way from his horror of the twins). _

 

_ “We have no idea what you're talking about.” Fred-or at least Harry assumed it was him-said stiffly, his brother nodding along beside him, both of their arms crossed over their chests. _

 

_ Bill scoffed at his younger brothers and rolled his eyes, “Oh, sure you don't,” He muttered, “Do you two honestly think I didn't hear what you two just said to each other? Do you both think I'm that daft?” He chuckled out, leaning back in his chair. _

 

_ Fred and George looked at each other, eyes widening slightly before glancing back at Bill. “We didn't say anything, Bill. You're just...er-you probably heard us wrong.” _

 

_ Bill’s eyebrow quirked, “Oh is that right? So I didn't just hear you say, ‘Let’s enchant the blankets on Percy’s bed again and his new school robes’? You do know that mom paid a lot of money to get Percy those, right?” He frowned. _

 

_ Both boys were flushed by the end of Bill’s words, but still mustered up the energy to say at the same time, “Only because Percy’s so much shorter than Charlie and you, we almost had to buy him girl’s robes.” _

 

_ They both jumped into snickers and giggles, Ron, Ginny, Mr. Weasley, Charlie and even Harry himself, joining in. While Harry's eyes watered from trying to stop his laughs, he noticed his father's send him stern looks (Although Sirius’ was a bit more strained, like he felt like laughing as well). _

 

_ “Knock it off!” Mrs. Weasley snapped after a moment and Harry jumped in surprise, “I swear, one more comment like that tonight and I'll have you two stay home on Monday!” _

 

_ “But we wanna see Charlie off, Mum!” George whined, lips forming a pout.  _

 

_ Harry frowned at the boy. Why was he two years younger than the twins, and he still knew that saying exactly what George had just said, would make Molly Weasley even more peeved off?  _

 

_ With a quick glance over at Mrs. Weasley-he knew for absolute sure, the twins had fucked up. _

 

_ “EXCUSE ME? It is your brother’s first year at Hogwarts! This is the first year Percy will not be around to help around the house! You will be begging for him to come back when you realize how important he is to this family! Who do you think does the cleaning when your father is at work and I'm watching Ginny and Ron?” She shouted to the point of her voice going shrill. _

 

_ Harry’s eyes swept the table for the reactions. _

 

_ It wasn't like he liked all this drama-he was just interested in the way such a large family worked. Like how everyone was a cog in a wheel, allowing it to turn, therefore, moving the Wagon-wagon being the loud yet loving family-down the bumpy and sometimes smooth road. _

 

_ But, Harry was starting to see something a bit odd in the wheel. _

 

_ Some of the cogs were coming loose.  _

 

_ Bill was going to be in his sixth year this time round and he would soon be looking for a job away from where he lived to start his own life and Arthur, was starting to spend more time at work than he did at home. _

 

_ Not only that but- _

 

_ Harry looked to the most different looking Weasley. The darkest red hair-almost wine like-the only curly and wavy locks-the least freckled face-the most pale skin-the leanest body, seeming very feminine-nearly the shortest boy-and the most sad looking; Percy Weasley. _

 

_ He was looking down at his lap, eyes dull, face stiff, and jaw set tightly.  _

 

_ And very very very sad looking. _

 

_ “Are you-” Harry began to ask if the older boy was okay, only to be cut off by the twins. _

 

_ “No we won't. Percy's mean.” The first one said. _

 

_ “Yeah, Percy’s the world’s biggest prat.” The second agreed, giggling at his brother.  _

 

_ Ginny, being the youngest and completely  unaware of the energy or tenseness in the room, let out tiny giggles, grinning at her food.  _

 

_ “Alright, that's it. Boys, you will not be joining us on Monday-” _

 

_ “Mum! No! I take it back! I take it back, I'm sorry’!” _

 

_ “That isn't fair, mummy! We’re just stating  our thoughts! Isn't free so each a thing?” _

 

_ “-You two can stay over at the Lovegoods while we go out. I already asked  Xenophilius last week, as I expected you two to do something bad this weekend.” Molly carried on and ignored the groans and complaints at the mention of the Lovegoods. _

  
  


_ “Mum, they have to see us off though.” Charlie's voice cut in and Harry’s eyeballs zoomed around in his skull, over to him, _

_ “I don't wanna leave without seeing all my little bros and Gin.” He attempted to smile, trying to diffuse some of the tension. _

 

_ Molly frowned at him, “I know love, but-” _

 

_ “He's right mum,” Bill supplied, “They might be rats-” _

 

_ Harry’s eyebrows raised at his father's who across the table jumped. _

 

_ “-But they need to see us off! I won't be able to focus on anything if I don't see all my siblings,” he glanced to Harry, who's heart fluttered in his chest, “And Harry too! Percy’ll probably have the best year ever, if everyone who loves him is there to send him off.” _

 

_ “Arthur! Help me here!” Molly finally snapped at her husband.  _

 

_ The man was stirring a cup of milk with a  spoon, trying to distance himself as far away, from the discussion taking place, as possible. He looked at his wife after he realized Molly was speaking to him and cleared his throat, “Erm-” He looked to the kids and then back to Molly, “Sorry, what are we talking about?” He asked, causing Molly to go red and fume. _

 

_ “Arthur, I swear to Merlin-” _

 

_ “It isn't dad’s fault, Mum. This is all stupid and we should all just go back to dinner!” Charlie snapped, hand smacking down on the table. _

 

_ Molly’s lower lip curved into a frown, “Your brother was just insulted, Charles and I am trying to teach your younger brothers that there are consequences for their actions.” _

 

_ “Percy doesn't care!” Charlie rolled his eyes, not really bothering to check if his statement was true. _

 

_ Harry looked, however, and saw that contrary to Charlie’s statement, the horned rimmed glasses wearing, pale skinned, redhead did care. He looked...sad. _

 

_ “All of you are going to get grounded if you don't-” _

 

_ “Alright, everybody!” Remus suddenly shouted, standing from his seat and gaining the table’s full attention. _

 

_ Harry couldn't help the slight pride that took over him at his father’s next words; _

 

_ “Let's all calm down and talk this out. There is no need for a screaming match, nor is there a reason for us all to insult others. I think we should all stop and apologize to one another, before even more fighting follows.” _

 

_ Everyone seemed to flush or show some sort of guilt/shame when Remus finished. Molly’s face went a bit pink and she lowered herself into her chair (apparently rising during the argument).  _

 

_ Her husband looked into his milk, seemingly trying to discover it’s secrets.  _

 

_ Or something. _

 

_ Bill and Charlie were flushed, looking at their laps, while the twins pouted miserably. Percy’s face held a cold glare st the younger two, arms crossed tightly over his chest. _

 

_ “I'm sorry for yelling.” Molly sighed after a moment.  _

 

_ Bill went next “I wasn't trying to say the twins shouldn't learn such a valuable lesson, Mum. I'm just…” He looked over at his younger siblings, “Im worried about how this year will go. I wasn't honest when I said Percy will probably feel safer this year, having everyone see him off. The truth is,  _ I  _ would feel better with everyone there.” _

 

_ The table stayed silent after Bill spoke, until Charlie added in, _

 

_ “I think we’re all worried about this year Mum. Bill, me, and Perce are terrified and we need our whole family.” _

 

_ Molly gave them a content smile, “Oh thank goodness. I don't want to hand out any punishments, loves. I think we all just got a it carried away.” She held her husband’s hand and leaned back in her chair. _

 

_ “Alright, we’re sorry for being brats, Mummy. We’ll stop with our pranks for the weekend.” George said after another pause, his brother nodding along reluctantly. _

 

_ “Good then!” Remus clapped his hands and sat back down in his seat (Which was next to Sirius, who had fallen asleep sometime during the whole span of the conversation). “Now let's all seatand try to spend the rest of dinner with no fights, okay? Just this once?” _

 

_ The table laughed. _

 

_ Harry didn't laugh though.  _

 

_ He was watching Percy, who had his shoulders hunched and face covered in dark shadows. His mouth was a thin line, eyes blank and staring at his lap. He still looked so sad, meanwhile, Harry had no idea why. Everything was- _

 

_ And then it struck him, _

 

_ No one had apologized to Percy. _

 

_A cog was coming loose and no was paying attention._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we get to see Draco! Btw, I love the twins!


	4. Harry's Birthday part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to post, dears, I got a bit caught up in other things.

  
“What is it? What is it? Let us see, Harry!” The twins and Ron shouted, crowding around the smaller boy, almost on top of him as they complained.

Molly seemed to be as irritated as Harry, yelling at them all to sit down and act like ‘polite young men for once’ and to act like their three older brothers, all of which were not in the room-one in Egypt, another in Romania, the latter just in the kitchen, a few feet away.

“It's a deck of cards-all with different kinds of dragons to study!” Harry finally cheered, showing them to Ron first, just on instinct-before the twins plucked them up and began to read the descriptions and labels written.

“The little drawings are so cute!” Ginny grinned, suddenly there and looking over their shoulders. Harry looked at her and smiled, nodding back, “They are! Which one’s your favorite?”

She opened her mouth and her face lit up a bright red, sweat being visible on her forehead before rushing back over the seat she had been in earlier.

Harry frowned before looking back to his cards. He made a mental note to ask Ron what was wrong with her, later when they had some privacy. Was she mad at him? Why did she run back to her seat without answering? Did Harry do something to offend her?

“There's a note, Har.” Ron suddenly said and handed Harry a piece of yellowed parchment, wrinkled around the corners. He looked over the loopy handwriting of Charlie, almost snorting at how much better it was than what Harry could do.

He read quickly but made sure to take in every piece of information, knowing Charlie would require a letter in return-like all the times he'd owl Harry before.

Dear Harry (The world’s biggest goofball),

Harry stopped to roll his eyes and snort, although he couldn't bring his mind to think of something as a response for later. So he read on,

What's up, kid? 11 already? That's so crazy! I remember that the first time we met was the summer before my first year at Hogwarts! You were so tiny and cute-wonder what happened!!!

Harry couldn't help the snort that escaped him and the red headed jerks leaned over his shoulder, reading along, very uncomfortably close to him.

But in all seriousness, I'm really sorry I couldn't be there for your first year-or not even to drop you off at the platform!   
It's an important day and year, and I hope you make the most of your time at Hogwarts. I do hope you enjoy your gift-I'll be quizzing you on all the breeds when I see you again!”

Sincerely,  
Charlie Weasley

Harry barely had time to smile at the sentiment before people began talking again.

“Now Bill’s! Open Bill’s!” Sirius urged from his own seat in the couch, drinking some unknown liquid as he talked to Arthur and Hagrid softly, both looking quite happy and slightly buzzed by the fire whisky they had been given when they arrived-Dumbledore was a wild man.

Harry accepted the gift from Mrs. Weasley, tearing right in greedily, and pulling out- “Candy!”

A few dozen chocolate frogs and pumpkin patsies fell out, along with a few licorice wands, landing right in Harry’s lap as he chuckled at the absurdity of Bill’s thought process when giving gifts. Happily, there was a letter that floated out, landing neatly on the pile of candy.

He picked it up and read aloud, “Don't open this in front of Mum.”

The room burst into noisy laughter once again, Harry’s ears going a bit red in embarrassment from being so eager to open his gift.

“Well,” Molly chuckled after a moment, “I think you should save that for later, dear. We have cake to eat still!” She grinned and looked over to Sirius, who was standing up from where he sat.

“Come on, Har!” Sirius grinned, “Help me get the cake and then we can sing happy birthday.” He stuck out a hand for Harry to grab, smile planted firmly on his lips.

Harry nodded and stood up, grabbing the hand of his father and following him into the kitchen as he looked back to glare at a certain twin with red hair and twitchy fingers.

Sirius and Harry stepped into the kitchen, making their way towards the kitchen island that held the vanilla bean cake Mrs. Weasley had made. It looked delicious, Harry’s mouth already watering.

His attention was drawn away from the cake as Sirius said, “You okay, man?” voice more concerned than Harry had heard in awhile. He looked up to see Sirius staring at Percy, still in the kitchen, staring out the window above the sink, and his hands wrapped tightly around a glass of water.

He glanced over at Sirius almost dazingly, before his cheeks colored and he apologized in a very polite and mature way, “Yes, quite. Sorry about that. I'll just leave you two here.” And then went back into the living room, leaving his water behind.

Harry stayed where he stood as Sirius moved around the kitchen to grab candles and paper plates.

“You know,” Sirius began, “That kid kind of freaks me out sometimes. Acts like a tiny adult or something.”

Harry nodded, keeping quiet and trying not to argue with his father. Percy was very nice to Harry, despite what the others in their odd family thought. He often talked to Harry about the Ministry of magic and Hogwarts (As Harry didn't know much about the first, Sirius not wanting to talk about work when he got home and Percy trying to set it in Harry’s mind, that despite what everyone else in their family thought, not all houses were made specific. Not all Slytherins were bad and not all Gryffindors were good).

“Grab the candles, kiddo.” Sirius said and picked up the cake to carry it out.

“Okay, dad.” Harry nodded, standing on his tiptoes to grab that candles off the counter. His hand clenched around the small pieces made to hold fire, and he jogged after his father, back into the living room.

“I'll take those, Harry, my boy.” Dumbledore said when Harry arrived at the crowded coffee table. The candles were handed over and Albus gave a swish of his finger, causing the candles to lift into mid air-before inserting themselves into the cake and lighting.

“I can't wait for when we can do magic outside of school!” George grinned over to Fred, both sharing an excited giggle, while Harry exchanged smirks with Ron over the twins’s giddiness.

Harry was moved by all the adults until he was placed right in front of the cake, Ron on his right and Mrs. Weasley on his left. He didn't realize, however, that Hagrid was standing right behind him until he took a slight step back and was bounced forward off Hagrid’s belly.

“Oof! Sorry, Hagrid!” Harry apologized, looking over his shoulder to see the large man laugh and take a good step back.

“No worries, ‘arry! Still got me ribs!” The man chuckled.

Harry laughed, feeling ten times more happy, just by seeing Hagrid’s contagious smile.

“Blow out your candles and make a wish, pup!” Sirius interrupted the merry conversation, reminding Harry of what was supposed to be going on.

Harry leaned forward (Despite wanting to talk to Hagrid some more) and paused, trying to think of a wish.

‘Erm,’ He thought, ‘I wish for da-...I wish for a...a...no, I want to have a good first year. I want to make a few good friends and learn how to perform magic’ He smiled and leaned closer-before stopping himself and adding, ‘And I hope dad feels better’ He gave a satisfied nod and blew out the candles.

“What did you wish for?” Ron asked as soon as Harry straightened back up, so close their noses almost touched.

“Um,” Harry blushed, taking a step back, “You know. Just to have a good year and not completely fail all my classes.”

The room gave chuckles and snorts, Sirius almost dropping the slice of cake he was holding out to Harry as he laughed.

“Harry, I swear to Merlin-”

“Can we eat in Harry's room?” Ron suddenly exclaimed, the atmosphere in the room becoming slightly more awkward at the outburst.

“Erm, okay,” Sirius answered, “That's fine kiddo-”

Harry didn't have the time to process the rest of his father’s words, Ron shoving a plate with a slice of cake on it, right into Harry’s hand, and grabbing the other while shooting up the staircase of the house.

“Don't make a mess up there, boys!” Molly shouted after them, only for the twins to call up cheekily, “Yeah, don't make a mess.”

The smacks could be heard even as Harry shut his bedroom door to give him and Ron some privacy.

That turned out to be a mistake, as when Harry turned around to face Ron, he was sitting on Harry’s bed, looking at him with a mouthful of cake.

“So,” Harry swallowed, sitting down on the bed. He felt very uncomfortable at the moment and he couldn't quite understand why, until he realized how Ron was blushing excessively.

“Are you alright? You seem hot.” He finally said, setting himself down in the edge of the springy bed.

Ron shook his head in answer, sticking a large forkful of cake into his mouth. His hand clenched on the plastic fork, so hard, Harry thought it might snap in half.

“Ronnie, I can tell something is wrong. Tell me what's-”

“Did you just call me Ronnie?” The ginger’s head shot up, this time looking Harry in the eye.

Harry blinked.

“...Yes. It's your name, isn't it?”

Ron shook his head in humor, trying to keep the spongy cake inside his mouth, instead of cackling and letting to tumble out of his mouth. Ron had always had a problem with his manners at the dinner table. And, even though they were not seated at the dining table at the moment, it was still quite obvious what would happen to a nice white cloth tablecloth, if Ron had been eating over it.

“You just haven't called me that in awhile, mate,” Ron said after a good swallow, “I think the last time I heard that, I was like 8 or 9.”

Harry shrugged awkwardly, the atmosphere in the room giving off an odd feeling, “Are you alright though? You seem really-”

“Do you think we’ll sleep together?” Ron said urgently, his eyes trained on his clasped and sweaty hands.

“Wh-what?” Harry breathed and his plate nearly dropped from his hand.

Ron’s face took on an even stronger shade of pink as he began to squabble, “I mean-when we get to Hogwarts! Like the same room? Cause, what-what if you and I aren't in the same house? I don't think I'll be able to survive Hogwarts without you-and my brothers won't be any better and-”

“Ron.” Harry cut him off, setting down the slice of cake on his bedside table before turning back to look Ron in the eyes. “We are going to be in the same house, alright? We aren't going to be split up-”

“But you don't know that!” Ron cried, his hands slamming down on top of Harry’s knees, cake now discarded beside him, “What if we don't end up in the same-”

“Then we’ll live with it.” Harry answered, plucking Ron’s hands off his knees and giving them a pat, “It's not like we can't still be friends if I end up in Hufflepuff or something.”

Ron’s lips gave a little tremble and Harry bit the inside of his cheek when he realized how shiny the redhead’s eyes had gotten.

“Um, yeah, you're right,” Ron chuckled, “Sorry..” He wiped at his eyes discreetly-or as much as he could by turning away for a moment-and then picked back up his cake, looking at it silently.

“Ron,” Harry began, swallowing a mouthful of anxious spit, “Is there something else bothering you? ‘Cause you know...we're always gonna be friends. Brothers, I would say.”

Ron looked up at Harry and the glasses wearing boy almost frowned at the new pale color the other wore, along with something blank in his eyes as he said back, “Yeah, Har. We’ll always be friends.”

\----

Draco ignored the yelling from downstairs, hands tightening over his ears as he tried to ignore the screams from his innocent house elf.

‘He deserves it’ His father had said.

‘Ignore it, darling’ His mother had said.

‘Please...sir…’ Pinky had whimpered before Draco had watched the thing’s head bashed in with his father’s cane.

He now sat on his bed, unaware of the tears streaming down his face and the tight sobs echoing through this dark bedroom.

A loud smash came from the floor below and Draco had to tighten his hold on his ears to block it out, so tightly they began to throb. His fingernails gave red crescent marks to the skin around his face, trying to block out all of his senses.

His body felt achy, like he had slept oddly or had ran for miles the past day. Everything just...felt bad.

The salty liquid from his eyes didn't even feel like anything. Just wet.

He should have taken the blame for the house elf.

Father would never hurt him. He would be punished, sure, but his father would never hurt-

“It's alright, darling,” His mother was now saying. He felt her small hand rest in his shoulder and the bed dip in new weight.

He didn't even bother to look at her, diving into her lap and letting out another choked sob.

“It’ll be okay,” Narcissa soothed, her voice low and comforting. A thickness was held over it, like she was afraid to show too much emotion.

Draco’s tears stained through the dark black dress she wore, and her arms clenched around her son tighter, “I know, Draco….I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, sorry for that ending....


	5. Orange Bottles and Least Favorites

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty sure there'll be anothe chapter really soon, so that once a month thing might go away

"Have you ever even been on a broom, dad?” Harry cackled, zooming around the garden on his brand new Nimbus 2000. He had the biggest grin that could fit on his face, teeth shining and eyes glimmering. It was only three days before they would all be off to Hogwarts, and Harry's was going to have fun for the time remaining.

“You better fly, pup! When I catch you, you're gonna get a whooping!” Sirius yelled back, kicking up from the ground and zooming towards Harry.

“OH MY GOD, DAD! SLOW DOWN BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF!” Harry yelled and used his broom to speed away backwards, so he could still see his father’s face as he tried to escape.

“You can't talk to your father like that, Harold.” One of the twins snickered from down below them. Harry glanced down to see the bright red headed hair of the Weasley children all standing below them with bright grins-

Er-all of them except Bill, who was in Egypt until Christmas, Charlie, who was in Romania for until who knew when, and Percy, who...well, he was probably in his room.

Ron, unlike the others, was already on his broom, flying up to also jade Harry, joining Sirius on the charge.

Harry let out a fake yell of fear and flew faster, turning around so he could see where he was going.

“Get back here, you jerk!” Ron shouted, although his voice seemed to be shaky from trying to stop himself from bursting into laughter.

Harry only laughed loudly, flying twice around a large oak tree and setting off once again.

It continued on for an hour or two, the twins and Ginny joining after only three seconds after Ron joined. The twins were a lot faster than Harry, although they seemed to fly just behind Harry in order to let him win their game of chance.

Ginny on the other hand, had not been given as much practice as the boys, as she was the youngest-In fact, the Weasleys weren't allowed to start flying until they turned 11, so it was kind of a relief that Mr. Or Mrs. Weasley never came out to check on them. Maybe having Sirius out there with all the kids made them feel safer.

For some odd reason.

But Ginny was still really good from what Harry could tell. She was fast and able to keep herself always on track of trying to catch Harry, and the Snitch, when they all decided to do a bit of quidditch practice (The twins wanted to do good this year). She was a bit wobbly though, always so quick to move so the twins found it easy to trick her into jumping after them instead of the actual snitch.

‘But she’s absolutely brilliant at this’, Harry thought to himself as they all touched down on the grass, ready to head in for-

“It's dinner already? We skipped lunch?!?” Ron could be heard shrieking from the doorway into the house.

He continued to whine as he trudged through, off to take a quick shower before being able to munch down on the delicious roast Harry could smell from where he stood.

“Well, wanna eat first? I'd rather eat sweaty and dirty then take a shower and risk causing dinner to go cold.” Sirius chirped in Harry's ear as he put a hand on his boulder and steered them both inside the house.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded and blushed as his stomach gurgled a little too loud, “I'm pretty hungry.”

Sirius gave a loud laugh and set off to the kitchen to wash his hands and steal a quick and longing look at the food on the dining table.

Harry chuckled, following along and singing some Weird Sisters under his breath. They both washed their hands, and Sirius walked back out to the dining room, while Harry stopped to tie his left shoelace.

He stared down at his shoes trying to remember when he'd gotten them and how they'd already gotten so dirty. Were they from last Christmas? They seemed to be. Aunt Nymphadora said-

Harry’s train of thought was thrown off the tracks as he finished tying and accidentally stood up and stepped right into Mr. Weasley.

They both gave out yelps of surprise before putting arms out to steady one another.

“I'm so-” Harry started out at the same time Mr. Weasley said, “Are you al-”

They both stopped, not wanting to cut the other off and seem rude. Mr. Weasley, as odd as he was, could never be a cruel or impolite man in Harry’s eyes, and hearing him profusely spit out apologies, when it had been Harry who knocked into him-that just confirmed what Harry already believed.

“Dinner, boys!” Mrs. Weasley could be heard shouting in the next room.

“I really am so sorry, Mr. Weasley.” Harry winced at his words and tried to hide the redness of his face as moved around the man and back to where the family sat.

He heard the man chuckle out, “No worries, Harry.” And then bounded over to the table where he sat in between Ron and George.

Or Fred.

Or maybe it was George.

“I'm Fred.” The twin told Harry as soon as he was settled into his seat and most likely wearing a questioning expression.

Yep, it was definitely George.

Harry rolled his eyes at the older boy and bit his lip when George gave him an insulted look, eyes wide and mouth parted in agastness.

“You know there's a secret for if you need to the two apart.” Ron suddenly spoke up, hair wet and clean clothes on from the quickest shower ever known to man. He was now joining the of conversation the two had been having. Could it really be called a conversation if there was no words or sign language?

“Really?” Harry asked, now looking in awe at his best friend.

“Yep,” Ron nodded, popping the p, “You gotta open their mouths and look all the way in to see that Fred’s very back molar on the right is gone. And then George has a weird scar on his right pinky from getting too close to a homemade wizard fire cracker and not telling mom until it was too late to properly heal it. And there's also-”

“You're giving away all our secrets, Ron!” George snapped and immediately began crossing his arms as he outed like a three year old.

“He's probably picked up on everything by now anyways, George. He’s a lot more smarter than I am.” Ron said dismissively.

“Everyone's got a better brain than you do!” Ginny giggled from across the table and Harry couldn't help but snort.

He also couldn't help but burst into more laughter when he looked from Ron’s betrayed face, George’s red laughing face, and Mrs. Weasley’s disapproving stance.

“Alright kiddies,” Sirius took charge of getting them all to shut up, “Time to shush and thank Molly for making such a delightful meal. Also, stop picking on poor Ron. He can't control his brain’s size.”

The children went back into laughter until Mr. Weasley reentered the room and sat down next to Ginny and Sirius.

“Now we can begin!” Fred piped up from the opposite side of George, where he seemed to have been sneaking bits of bread into his mouth during the distraction the others had made.

“Alright,” Molly smiled, “Dig in.”

She picked up her glass and took a long drink.

Harry wasn't so sure it was pumpkin juice.

Also, Harry was pretty sure that there was an empty seat at the table.

“Hold on.” Harry frowned and everyone turned to look at him.

“We’re missing someone.” He said and let the words sink into the rest of the family, letting them process.

“Oh honey,” Molly said after a moment, “Charlie and Bill aren't here, remember? They're off on in-”

“Mrs. Weasley,” Harry cut her off with an awkward chuckle, “I was talking about Percy.”

The room went quiet, the only sound being the nervous scraping Harry was doing with his fork against his palm. He looked from Molly and over to his dad to see him looking over with a perplexed expression.

“Oh, how silly of me!” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed after a moment, her cheeks pink, “I'll go right up and fetch him! He's probably fell asleep at his desk again! Perhaps he's too invested in a certain book.” She began to stand up before Harry did something the surprised everyone-including himself.

“I'll go get him.” He said and then stood, walking so quick he was already up the stairs by the time everyone had fully realized what had just happened.

His feet padded down the hall, and his brain swam with thoughts as he walked. Why had he gone up to get Percy? The two had never really hit it off, in the long years they'd known each other.

Of course, they both liked the quiet at times, Harry also very much liked the loud and giddiness the large and bubbly family everyone besides Percy seemed to have.

Percy was intense and serious and usually the bossiest person in the family-occasionally replacing Mrs. Weasley for the biggest worrywart.

In fact, Percy was Harry's least favorite Weasley to hang out with.

Bill was tall and strong and loved to read and tell stories to Harry whenever he would babysit. Percy didn't like it when people so much as laid a finger on any of his books.

Charlie was adventurous and cool and brought a new meaning to the word chivalry when he would help Ginny and Harry and Ron out in the garden before picking some gorgeous flowers and giving them out to everyone. He would always be ready to go on a walk through the hills, as it gave him a chance to explore.

Mr. And Mrs. Weasley were kind and sweet and always made Harry and his father feel welcome inside their home. Whenever Sirius and Harry’s father would go on dates, they always let Harry come over and sometimes spend the night in Ron’s room.

Ginny was the most adorable little sister Harry could wish for. She was very competitive and was always in the mood to kick someone’s butt. Although, for some odd reason, the past year, she'd been acting quite strange and shy around Harry. He had no idea why.

And then there was Ron.

Ron was Harry’s favorite Weasley.

Ron was the best.

Harry had no idea why.

But all in all, they were all so cool to be around and then when you got to Percy he was so...different.

It wasn't that Harry disliked Percy-he didn't! Percy was like a brother in a way.

He was just not someone he would typically choose to converse with if he was at a dinner and bored.

But he wasn't bad. Percy could even be funny at times-but no, he was definitely not the person Harry would seek out to talk to.

Harry sighed, now on the second floor and making his way down the hall. He stopped at the end and glanced over at the twins’s bedroom door.

It looked dangerous.

He looked at Percy’s.

It looked boring.

But there was no needs to judge a door, so Harry reached out and grabbed the knob on the door, turning it.

Harry opened the door to the room, calling in, “Percy?” Only to get no reply. He stepped forward into the room, lips curving down into a frown as he took in the appearance of the room. This was the first time he'd actually ever seen the third eldest Weasley child’s room.

The walls were painted grey, the bed had grey sheets, the posters were of old grey ministers, a jacket neatly folded on the bed grey, and the general aura of the room was; grey. On one wall, a bookshelf was built in, housing several books, along with a desk, a neat stack of parchment on top, along with an organized row of quills and ink and-

Harry stopped, confused at the splash of color in the room. It was orange-just like the Weasleys, but looked so much like the things he saw in the sad part of the muggle shop he and Sirius had visited once. He shuffled his way over to the desk and picked it up, discovering it to be an orange bottle with a white cap and some print on the side of it.

He squinted, reading Percy’s name and someone named, ‘Dr. Greg Pharrell’ as well as some sort of expiration date? Harry looked at the last word in large font and tried to sound it out, “Flu-ox-e-tine.”

That sounded weird. Was this a spell? Why did Percy have this? He popped off the cap and looked inside, frowning at the small white pills located inside.

He was about to pick one up when he heard the shaky of whisper of, “What are you doing?” Come from the bedroom’s open doorway.

He whirled around to see Percy, paler than he'd ever seen him, expression twisted into a horrified manner and eyes locked on the pill bottle in Harry’s hand. He didn't wait for Harry to answer though, stomping forward and wrenching away the tube. He shoved it in his front pocket, avoiding Harry’s eyes as he said, “Do not tell anyone about this.”

“What is-?”

“Never talk about this again, Harry.” Percy snapped, voice and face stern.

Harry nodded and walked out the bedroom door.


	6. Gryffendors are Hotheaded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a happy holidays! I was able to rewatch the chamber of secrets yesterday and felt a boost to finish this chapter. Enjoy!

“Have you ever even been in the same room as Scabbers, Sirius? I swear, he isn't that scary-” Ron was cut off by the slam of a door and the angry stompings of Harry’s father.

It was the night before Harry and Ron would be shipped off to Hogwarts and everyone was all over the Potter-Black apartment, flooing back and forth from the Weasley’s home, with suitcases and pouches galore.

Harry sat in the living room, in his favorite loveseat, as he shoved pairs of socks and textbooks inside his trunk, pushing them all down in order to get them to fit. He listened to his best friend continue to argue with his dad, through the man’s bedroom door, and snickered when Ron begin to screech about how good of a rat he had, because Percy raised it since he was nine and anything Percy raised must have good manners.

“He sure is already attached to that pest.” George-er-yes, George grumbled loudly as he flopped onto the couch across from Harry. He laid lazily, legs spread wide, arms on the back of the couch and posture relaxed.

Harry gave a final shove to get his belongings inside his trunk and locked his it before it could spring open again (It was his third try by now).

“He is,” He nodded, slightly sweaty from packing so vigorously, “I’d be a bit concerned for my position as best friend, if he didn't stop complaining about how the rat does nothing.”

George gave a loud laugh that went through the home, “I don't think you'll have to worry about Ron ever leaving your side, lad. You two are inseparable.”

Harry’s face tinted red a bit and he glanced away from George, seeing Ginny run past them, shouting, “Mummy! Mummy! Fred’s turned Percy’s prefect badge into a turnip and they won't stop shrieking at each other!”

The boy with the lightning scar on his forehead made eye contact with George again and it took only three seconds for them to burst into a fit of giggles. They laughed until their eyes were wet and their faces were red from being unable to take in too much air while cackling.

“Merlin, this family is loony sometimes.” Harry sighed after he regained his breathing’s consistency.

“I know,” George whimpered with laughter, “Every once in awhile I can't breath from every idiotic thing we do! One time Fred and I set up a dung bomb under our aunt-”

“I've heard that one. Ron told me. Did you really get cut out of the will?”

George glared at Harry for interrupting, but nodded back in answer, “Well, maybe we did-but this other time-oh! No one knows about this actually! Fred and I just set up a prank on Mum!”

Harry didn't smile at the boy’s words, face hardening and becoming stern as he said, “You better not be planning anything that'll make her upset. She's already undergoing a lot of stress right now, with her youngest son going off to-”

“We aren't doing anything bad, you dingus! Just listen to me and don't interrupt for once.” George’s lips were screwed down as he pouted at Harry.

The younger one held up his hands, “Sorry. Go on then.” He leaned back in his seat, but kept his eyes narrowed to show his suspicion.

“Thank you. Now,” George grinned, “As I was saying, Fred and I set up something for Mum and-well, I guess it's for everyone actually, but Mum will probably love this the most. You’ll enjoy this too, anyways, we’ll arrive at the platform tomorrow and waiting there for us will be-”

“Sirius said I still can't bring Scabbers over here.”

Harry and the twin both jumped as Ron appeared behind the couch, his face pink and his lips frowned. He rubbed his arms as he went on, “I don't think he's ever even seen him before. Whenever you and your dad visited, Percy had to lock him in a little cage because Sirius has got some weird phobia of them. Do you know why he can't even hear about a rat without plugging his ears and yelling about it?”

Harry’s nose twitched as he said back, “I have no idea, Ron. He's just never like rats, from what I've gathered over the years. He thinks they're dirty little monsters.”

“Yeah,” Ron scoffed, “But why? He acts like he's at war with all rats.”

“It's odd. I know.” Harry replied and looked back over to George, wanting to hear the end of George’s plan for the next day. They made eye contact and the twin nodded, continuing on,

“As I was saying, before someone decided to interrupt,” He snarled at Ron and got back a look of confusion, “So tomorrow,  
We’ll all be off to school. And it's a really important year, because it's both of your first years-and it’s the first time Harry will really be surrounded by wizards and witches that aren't us, Hagrid, Dumbledore, and the Tonks family.”

“I've been to diagon ally four times!” Harry snapped, feeling a bit defensive over his role and participation in the wizarding role.

“Three of which were before you turned eight, and could actually be recognized.” George  
licked his lips as he cockily went on, “But don't worry, I'll help you out when we get there. Fred and I are pretty popular in every house, even Slytherin-but mostly because they're annoyed by us so much...that might be the raven claws actually…”

“George,” Harry said tiredly, “Where is this story going?”

The tall red head glanced at him, before looking at Ron, who was squished into the loveseat next to Harry. He seemed to realize in that moment, he had an audience.

“Oh yeah, sorry. So, since it's an important day tomorrow, I got two of our favorite -”

“George!” A matching voice cut in, and they jumped as Fred came in with a scowl, “What are you doing? That's a surprise, you dimwit!”

Harry’s eyebrows scrunched together as the two had a furious staring contest, both irritated for the other talking.

“What's a surprise?” He asked, tone almost begging for an answer.

Fred looked over at him and his scowl softened, “Well, we can't tell you, Har. It wouldn't be a secret then, now would it?”

Harry sighed, not happy with being kept out of the loop-but what could he do? ‘I'll just have to look out tomorrow’ he thought to himself, trying to come up with what these ‘two favorite things’ could be. Harry’s mind became buzzing with ideas, almost unaware of Ron muttering under his breath, until the redhead had moved a bit, and there knees touched, causing Ron to look at Harry with a red face.

Harry opened his mouth to ask what was wrong-but George seemed unready to let the earlier topic go, “Freddy,” He groaned, “What's the point of not telling them? It'll be funny enough to see-”

“The surprise it literally for them, you wanker,” Fred said exasperatedly, “The point is so we can see their reactions to it. You know, like every other prank we pull?”

Ron and Harry exchanged looks of awkwardness, inside of whether they should leave and head to Harry’s room-or to just let the two hash it out until they got tired.

“But isn't it more for Mum as dad than it is for them?” George said hotly, standing up to face Fred and cross his arms stiffly.

Fred chewed the inside of his cheek slowly, his expression getting more annoyed by the second, “We talked about this last night, Georgie. It's a bloody surprise and it's going to stay that way until they arrive to see us at the platform!”

Harry and Ron looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

“They?” Ron asked, and the twins looked over at the two eleven year olds.

“Who's coming to see us off?” Harry demanded, a curiousness seeping into his chest.

Fred swallowed as George began to elbow him in the gut with a large grin, clearly humoured at his brother’s slip up.

Thy never got the chance to respond to Harry and Ron, as the next moment, Mrs. Weasley and Sirius came down the stairs, Ginny leading them. It only took a   
minute for Molly to get all the Weasleys back home before Sirius told Harry to head up to bed-while he, himself, headed into the kitchen for a cup of water.

Harry went obediently, as the house was quiet without all the Weasleys hanging around, and Harry felt no need to sit in the living room all alone.

He went up the stairs, hopping over the one creaky step-as it annoyed him-and then down the hall, passing Sirius’ room and then all the way down to his. He shut the door lightly behind him before climbing into bed.

He lay there for a moment, settling in until he began to think of who exactly the boys had been talking about.

Someone who would excite Harry?

Who was someone who would really excited Harry?

Who was someone Harry would give anything to see, after not being able to talk to or even touch for almost four years?

Was daddy coming back?

Harry’s heart sped up a bit and his eyes began to feel moist.

‘No, don't get your hopes up so quickly’ he told himself depressingly, eyelids falling down and his bottom lip stinging with pain as he bit it.

He rolled into his side, cringing at how stupid he was feeling.

Daddy coming back? There was absolutely no way he could or would ever do that-no matter how much Harry wished.

And he had made his choice.

He made his fucking choice.

Harry slowly released the right bite on his lip, trying to calm himself as he thought of more happy things.

He had been able to go to Diagon alley for what seemed like the first time in almost four years-the previous week.

He had felt so much excitement, picking out everything he would need for hogwarts. He had even felt a rush when picking out which quills to get. It was just so exciting.

Sirius had even let him get an owl for a late birthday present.

The owl was fluffy and white and simply stunning when Harry saw her perching on Sirius’ arm.

For someone who didn't want Harry to get too indulged in the wonders of the wizarding world-Sirius sure liked to amaze him with magical things.

But that hadn't been all of it.

He had met a boy when getting his robes with his dad.

Er-actually Sirius had gone to go get the beautiful owl for Harry, leaving him alone in the shop with Madam Malkin and the boy.

Harry hugged his knees close to his stomach, feeling an odd sort of warmth zoom through is chest at the memory.

“ _Hello_.” The boy had said as soon as Harry had stood on the platform next to him, waiting patiently for Madam Malkin to return from the back room of the shop.

“ _Hogwarts too_?” He had asked, his nose a little higher than most people and eyes a little more narrowed than Harry was used to.

“ _Erm, yes_.” Harry had chuckled nervously, his hands twisting into the fabric of his half stitched robe and his face beating up a bit.

The boy seemed humoured at Harry’s awkward response and carried on happily, “ _My father’s next door buying my books and my mother’s up the street looking at wands. Then I’m going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don’t see why first-years can’t have their own. I think I’ll bully father into getting me one anyway and I’ll smuggle it in somehow. Do you have your own broom?_ ”

Harry then blinked, unsure of how to respond, as he had become too engulfed in the boy’s long rant to form a quick and witty answer.

“ _Erm-yes, actually. My dad  
bought me one for me birthday last month._” He had said with a small grin growing on his face as he talked about his one of his favorite things.

He then blushed when he realized the boy was looking at him intently, an almost intrigued look on his face as he asked, “ _And do you play Quidditch at all?”_

Harry almost snorted as he answered, “ _Oh definitely, my whole-well, most of my family is obsessed with the sport. What about you?”_

The boy’s face had turned much brighter than the beginning of the conversation, a very pleased grin on his face as he responded, “ _I love playing with my father when he has the time. He's very busy with work. What does your father do?”_

Harry grinned wider, “ _My dad works at the ministry. He's in the department of magical law enforcement or something like that. He's really excited for me to go to Hogwarts and experience living somewhere surrounded by magic.”_

The boy was now fully turned towards Harry and both of them wore content smiles as they conversed.

“Is your mother muggle born or something?” The blonde haired boy asked, voice more curious than judging. 

Harry shook his head with a soft chuckle, “ _No, I don't have a muggle mother. Or a mother for that matter anymore. My dad just doesn't want me to get too engulfed with magic_.”

“ _Oh_ ,” The boy replied, “ _Well, I'm s-"_

At that moment, Madam Mallon returned with a roll of black fabric for their robes. They both looked at each other once more before turning back so they faced forward. The older woman set to work on their clothes while the blonde opened his mouth again,

“ _What house do you think you'll be in? I'm aiming for Slytherin like my parents, when they were in school.”_

Harry had froze for a moment. Most of the Weasleys and and his dad hated Slytherin, always talking about how snakelike the students were. How they couldn't be trusted or how they hated everyone besides themselves,

But this boy seemed nice.

_“My entire family is and has been in Gryffindor so I'm pretty sure I'll end up in there._ ” Harry said after a quiet pause.

The boy with the high head laughed as he said back, “ _Gryffindors are so hot headed though.”_

Harry felt a little jab at himself from the boy’s comment, but carried on, “ _Well, do I seem hotheaded?”_

_“No! Of course not_!” The boy had yelped, causing poor Madam Malkin to accidentally stab herself with a needle at his yell. Her glare was ignored by both of them as Harry said, “ _I’m a lot like my dads people have said, as well as my mum when she was around. All of which, were in Gryffindor.”_

_“Sorry_ ,” The blonde kid sighed, averting his eyes for just a moment before saying firmly, “I didn't mean to offend.”

"It's completely fine," Harry had smiled, feeling a little humoured at how much this boy seemed to care about what Harry thought, "Do you mind if I ask your name?" He asked after a moment.

The blonde haired wannabe Slytherin looked back up at Harry, this time with a more welcoming smile, “I’m Draco Malfoy. Would you like to be friends?" 

Harry couldn't help the smile that overcame him when Draco said that-nor could he stop it when he remembered it, lying in bed. Nor could he stop it-even as Sirius came to kiss him goodnight and tuck him in.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters are ahead!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading y'all. I hope y'all are triggered by the use of the word y'all.


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